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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 649 records · Page 36

CFD-Guided Evaluation of Spark-Assisted Gasoline Compression Ignition for Cold Idle Operation

A closed-cycle, three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis campaign was conducted to evaluate the performance of using spark plugs to assist gasoline compression ignition (GCI) combustion during cold idle operations. A conventional spark plug using single-sided J-strap design was put at a location on the cylinder head to facilitate spray-guided spark assistance. Ignition was modeled with an L-type energy distribution to depict the breakdown and the arc-to-glow phases during the energy discharge process. Several key design parameters were investigated, including injector clocking, number of nozzle holes, spray inclusion angle, number of fuel injections, fuel split ratio, and fuel injection timings. The study emphasized the region around the spark gap, focusing on flame kernel formation and development and local equivalence ratio distribution. Flame kernel development and the ignition process were found to correlate strongly with the fuel stratification and the flow velocity near the spark gap. The analysis results showed that the flame kernel development followed the direction of the local flow field. In addition, the local fuel stratification notably influenced early-stage flame kernel development due to varying injection spray patterns and the fuel injection strategies. Among these design parameters, the number of nozzle holes and fuel injection timing had the most significant effects on the engine combustion performance.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Observation of a 3D Magnetic Null Point

We describe high-resolution observations of a GOES B-class flare characterized by a circular ribbon at the chromospheric level, corresponding to the network at the photospheric level. We interpret the flare as a consequence of a magnetic reconnection event that occurred at a three-dimensional (3D) coronal null point located above the supergranular cell. The potential field extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field indicates that the circular chromospheric ribbon is cospatial with the fan footpoints, while the ribbons of the inner and outer spines look like compact kernels. We found new interesting observational aspects that need to be explained by models: (1) a loop corresponding to the outer spine became brighter a few minutes before the onset of the flare; (2) the circular ribbon was formed by several adjacent compact kernels characterized by a size of 1″–2″; (3) the kernels with a stronger intensity emission were located at the outer footpoint of the darker filaments, departing radially from the center of the supergranular cell; (4) these kernels started to brighten sequentially in clockwise direction; and (5) the site of the 3D null point and the shape of the outer spine were detected by RHESSI in the low-energy channel between 6.0 and 12.0 keV. Taking into account all these features and the length scales of the magnetic systems involved in the event, we argue that the low intensity of the flare may be ascribed to the low amount of magnetic flux and to its symmetric configuration.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Testing the LSST Difference Image Analysis Pipeline Using Synthetic Source Injection Analysis

Abstract We evaluate the performance of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time Science Pipelines Difference Image Analysis (DIA) on simulated images. By adding synthetic sources to galaxies on images, we trace the recovery of injected synthetic sources to evaluate the pipeline on images from the Dark Energy Science Collaboration Data Challenge 2. The pipeline performs well, with efficiency and flux accuracy consistent with the signal-to-noise ratio of the input images. We explore different spatial degrees of freedom for the Alard–Lupton polynomial-Gaussian image subtraction kernel and analyze for trade-offs in efficiency versus artifact rate. Increasing the kernel spatial degrees of freedom reduces the artifact rate without loss of efficiency. The flux measurements with different kernel spatial degrees of freedom are consistent. We also here provide a set of DIA flags that substantially filter out artifacts from the DIA source table. We explore the morphology and possible origins of the observed remaining subtraction artifacts and suggest that given the complexity of these artifact origins, a convolution kernel with a set of flexible bases with spatial variation may be needed to yield further improvements.

Liu, S. (ORCID:0000000244612143)↗

QPhiX Code Generator

A simple code-generator to generate the low level code kernels used by the QPhiX Library for Lattice QCD. Generates Kernels for Wilson-Dslash, and Wilson-Clover kernels. Can be reused to write other optimized kernels for Intel Xeon Phi(tm), Intel Xeon(tm) and potentially other architectures.

Joo, Balint↗

Production of LEU Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated Fuel for Irradiation Testing

Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel consists of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles embedded inside a SiC matrix. This fuel inherently possesses multiple barriers to fission product release, namely the various coating layers in the TRISO fuel particle as well as the dense SiC matrix that hosts these particles. This coupled with the excellent oxidation resistance of the SiC matrix and the SiC coating layer in the TRISO particle designate this concept as an accident tolerant fuel (ATF). The FCM fuel takes advantage of uranium nitride kernels instead of oxide or oxide-carbide kernels used in high temperature gas reactors to enhance heavy metal loading in the highly moderated LWRs. Production of these kernels with appropriate density, coating layer development to produce UN TRISO particles, and consolidation of these particles inside a SiC matrix have been codified thanks to significant R&D supported by US DOE Fuel Cycle R&D program. Also, surrogate FCM pellets (pellets with zirconia instead of uranium-bearing kernels) have been neutron irradiated and the stability of the matrix and coating layer under LWR irradiation conditions have been established. Currently the focus is on production of LEU (7.3% U-235 enrichment) FCM pellets to be utilized for irradiation testing. The irradiation is planned at INL s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). This is a critical step in development of this fuel concept to establish the ability of this fuel to retain fission products under prototypical irradiation conditions.

Terrani, Kurt A↗

AGR-5/6/7 Final Release-to-Birth Ratio Data Analysis

AGR-5/6/7 is the last of a series of Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) experiments conducted in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in support of development and qualification of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) low-enriched fuel for use in the high-temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR). AGR configuration and irradiation conditions are based on prismatic HTGR technology that is distinguished primarily through the use of helium coolant, a low-power-density ceramic core capable of withstanding very high temperatures, and TRISO-coated particle fuel. The AGR tests provide valuable irradiation-performance data to support fuel process development, qualify fuel for normal operation and accident conditions, and support development and validation of fuel performance and fission-product (FP) transport models and codes. Each AGR test consists of multiple independently controlled and monitored capsules containing fuel compacts placed in a graphite cylinder shrouded by a steel shell. Release-to-birth ratios (R/B) for fission-gas isotopes released from each capsule are calculated from release rates, measured by germanium detectors in the Fission Product Monitoring System (FPMS) installed downstream from each capsule, and birth rates calculated using numerical models of FG generation. The R/Bs are a critical measure of the ability of the fuel kernel, the particle coating layers, and the compact matrix to retain fission-gas atoms, preventing their release into the sweep-gas flow, and the impact of initially defective particles and/or particle-coating failures that occur during irradiation. For fission-gas isotopes, particle failure is defined as failure of all coating layers, allowing gaseous fission atoms to escape from a particle. During the first five cycles (162B ? 165A), R/Bs were stable in the 10-8?10-6 range, and no in-pile particle failures were observed, based on the gross gamma counts. The maximum R/B value of around 2 ? 10-6 for Kr-85m resulted from the presence of as-fabricated exposed kernels (based on the high exposed kernel fraction), the dispersed uranium, and high fuel particle temperatures in Capsule 1. Comparison of capsule-measured R/Bs from these early cycles to predictions using the previously developed AGR R/B model demonstrated FG release from the AGR-5/6/7 TRISO fuel was comparable to that of previous experiments. In addition, the Kr-85m R/B per-exposed-kernel values are comparable to R/B values obtained in AGR-3/4 irradiation experiment and four irradiation experiments performed during 1980s: (1) HRB-17/18, (2) COMEDIE-BD1, (3) HFR B1, and (4) HRB-21. In contrast, all measured R/B values are lower than predictions by the commonly used Richards and German models, which are intentionally conservative. A large number of in-pile particle failures occurred in Capsule 1 by the end of Cycle 166A. During the final four cycles (166A ? 168A), apparent damage to the Capsule 1 gas line appeared to cause FG leakage from that capsule into the other four capsules, resulting in an increase in fission gas (FG) detected in the effluent for all capsules. Isolation of the Capsule 1 gas line during the last three cycles also prevented measurement of its FG release. Thus, R/Bs in all capsules after Cycle 166A are highly uncertain because of undefined amount of leakage from Capsule 1, especially for long-lived isotopes. A few hundred in-pile particle failures were estimated for Capsule 1 before the end of Cycle 166A, but the total number of failures is unknown due to the lack of FG release data in the later cycles. Based primarily on evidence from the gross gamma counts during Cycle 168A, approximately 15 particles failed in Capsule 3 and four particles failed in Capsule 2. In-pile failures in Capsule 3 were anticipated because this capsule was designed to operate beyond the HTGR normal operating temperature range. In contrast, no in-pile failures were identified in the top two capsules (4 and 5) based on the absence of the typical spikes in gross gamma counts and low failure estimates using the AGR model, developed in INL/EXT-14-32970, for R/B of the short-lived isotopes (Kr-89 and Xe-137) with minimal leakage from Capsule 1.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Fine-grained conditional dispatching

Techniques for executing workgroups are provided. The techniques include executing, for a first workgroup of a first kernel dispatch, a workgroup dependency instruction that includes an indication to prioritize execution of a second workgroup of a second kernel dispatch, and in response to the workgroup dependency instruction, dispatching the second workgroup of the second kernel dispatch prior to dispatching a third workgroup of the second kernel dispatch, wherein no workgroup dependency instruction including an indication to prioritize execution of the third workgroup has been executed.

Dutu, Alexandru↗

Uniform Decay for Solutions of an Axially Moving Viscoelastic Beam

The paper deals with an axially moving viscoelastic structure modeled as an Euler–Bernoulli beam. The aim is to suppress the transversal displacement (transversal vibrations) that occur during the axial motion of the beam. It is assumed that the beam is moving with a constant axial speed and it is subject to a nonlinear force at the right boundary. We prove that when the axial speed of the beam is smaller than a critical value, the dissipation produced by the viscoelastic material is sufficient to suppress the transversal vibrations. It is shown that the rate of decay of the energy depends on the kernel which arise in the viscoelastic term. We consider a general kernel and notice that solutions cannot decay faster than the kernel.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Algorithmic Patterns for $$\mathcal {H}$$-Matrices on Many-Core Processors

In this work, we consider the reformulation of hierarchical ( \(\mathcal {H}\) ) matrix algorithms for many-core processors with a model implementation on graphics processing units (GPUs). \(\mathcal {H}\) matrices approximate specific dense matrices, e.g., from discretized integral equations or kernel ridge regression, leading to log-linear time complexity in dense matrix–vector products. The parallelization of \(\mathcal {H}\) matrix operations on many-core processors is difficult due to the complex nature of the underlying algorithms. While previous algorithmic advances for many-core hardware focused on accelerating existing \(\mathcal {H}\) matrix CPU implementations by many-core processors, we here aim at totally relying on that processor type. As main contribution, we introduce the necessary parallel algorithmic patterns allowing to map the full \(\mathcal {H}\) matrix construction and the fast matrix–vector product to many-core hardware. In this work, crucial ingredients are space filling curves, parallel tree traversal and batching of linear algebra operations. The resulting model GPU implementation hmglib is the, to the best of the authors knowledge, first entirely GPU-based Open Source \(\mathcal {H}\) matrix library of this kind. We investigate application examples as present in kernel ridge regression, Gaussian Process Regression and kernel-based interpolation. In this context, an in-depth performance analysis and a comparative performance study against a standard multi-core CPU \(\mathcal {H}\) matrix library highlights profound speedups of our many-core parallel approach.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

An adaptive fast multipole method in Cartesian basis, enabled by algorithmic differentiation

A novel form of the fast multipole method is realized by the combination of adaptive data structures with implementation of the multipole expansions and their translations in Cartesian basis, and enabled by algorithmic differentiation. It may be possible to generalize it to any kernel that allows its formulation as a function of small quantities with respect to which they can be expanded. There is no hard and fast rule recipe that works for all cases. However, it is shown how to do it for the softened Coulomb kernel, which is different from the Coulomb kernel. The characteristics and performance of the method are mapped and shown to provide an attractive option for a generic fast multipole algorithm in a wide region of the parameter space. The algorithm is illustrated with a beam dynamics application.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Stochastic generation of explicit pore structures by thresholding Gaussian random fields

We provide a description and computational investigation of an efficient method to stochastically generate realistic pore structures. Smolarkiewicz and Winter introduced this specific method in pores resolving simulation of Darcy flows (Smolarkiewicz and Winter, 2010 [1]) without giving a complete formal description or analysis of the method, or indicating how to control the parameterization of the ensemble. We address both issues in this paper. The method consists of two steps. First, a realization of a correlated Gaussian field, or topography, is produced by convolving a prescribed kernel with an initial field of independent, identically distributed random variables. The intrinsic length scales of the kernel determine the correlation structure of the topography. Next, a sample pore space is generated by applying a level threshold to the Gaussian field realization: points are assigned to the void phase or the solid phase depending on whether the topography over them is above or below the threshold. Hence, the topology and geometry of the pore space depend on the form of the kernel and the level threshold. Manipulating these two user prescribed quantities allows good control of pore space observables, in particular the Minkowski functionals. Extensions of the method to generate media with multiple pore structures and preferential flow directions are also discussed. To demonstrate its usefulness, the method is used to generate a pore space with physical and hydrological properties similar to a sample of Berea sandstone. -- Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •An efficient method to stochastically generate realistic pore structures is provided. •Samples are generated by applying a level threshold to a Gaussian field realization. •Two user prescribed quantities determine the topology and geometry of the pore space. •Multiple pore structures and preferential flow directions can be produced. •A pore space based on Berea sandstone is generated.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Accelerating population balance-Monte Carlo simulation for coagulation dynamics from the Markov jump model, stochastic algorithm and GPU parallel computing

This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for accelerating population balance-Monte Carlo (PBMC) simulation of particle coagulation dynamics. By combining Markov jump model, weighted majorant kernel and GPU (graphics processing unit) parallel computing, a significant gain in computational efficiency is achieved. The Markov jump model constructs a coagulation-rule matrix of differentially-weighted simulation particles, so as to capture the time evolution of particle size distribution with low statistical noise over the full size range and as far as possible to reduce the number of time loopings. Here three coagulation rules are highlighted and it is found that constructing appropriate coagulation rule provides a route to attain the compromise between accuracy and cost of PBMC methods. Further, in order to avoid double looping over all simulation particles when considering the two-particle events (typically, particle coagulation), the weighted majorant kernel is introduced to estimate the maximum coagulation rates being used for acceptance–rejection processes by single-looping over all particles, and meanwhile the mean time-step of coagulation event is estimated by summing the coagulation kernels of rejected and accepted particle pairs. The computational load of these fast differentially-weighted PBMC simulations (based on the Markov jump model) is reduced greatly to be proportional to the number of simulation particles in a zero-dimensional system (single cell). Finally, for a spatially inhomogeneous multi-dimensional (multi-cell) simulation, the proposed fast PBMC is performed in each cell, and multiple cells are parallel processed by multi-cores on a GPU that can implement the massively threaded data-parallel tasks to obtain remarkable speedup ratio (comparing with CPU computation, the speedup ratio of GPU parallel computing is as high as 200 in a case of 100 cells with 10 000 simulation particles per cell). These accelerating approaches of PBMC are demonstrated in a physically realistic Brownian coagulation case. The computational accuracy is validated with benchmark solution of discrete-sectional method. The simulation results show that the comprehensive approach can attain very favorable improvement in cost without sacrificing computational accuracy.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Identification of subsurface structures using electromagnetic data and shape priors

We consider the inverse problem of identifying large-scale subsurface structures using the controlled source electromagnetic method. To identify structures in the subsurface where the contrast in electric conductivity can be small, regularization is needed to bias the solution towards preserving structural information. We propose to combine two approaches for regularization of the inverse problem. In the first approach we utilize a model-based, reduced, composite representation of the electric conductivity that is highly flexible, even for a moderate number of degrees of freedom. With a low number of parameters, the inverse problem is efficiently solved using a standard, second-order gradient-based optimization algorithm. Further regularization is obtained using structural prior information, available, e.g., from interpreted seismic data. The reduced conductivity representation is suitable for incorporation of structural prior information. Such prior information cannot, however, be accurately modeled with a gaussian distribution. To alleviate this, we incorporate the structural information using shape priors. The shape prior technique requires the choice of kernel function, which is application dependent. We argue for using the conditionally positive definite kernel which is shown to have computational advantages over the commonly applied gaussian kernel for our problem. Numerical experiments on various test cases show that the methodology is able to identify fairly complex subsurface electric conductivity distributions while preserving structural prior information during the inversion.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Bose-Einstein condensation on a manifold with non-negative Ricci curvature

The Bose-Einstein condensation for an ideal Bose gas and for a dilute weakly interacting Bose gas in a manifold with non-negative Ricci curvature is investigated using the heat kernel and eigenvalue estimates of the Laplace operator. The main focus is on the nonrelativistic gas. However, special relativistic ideal gas is also discussed. The thermodynamic limit of the heat kernel and eigenvalue estimates is taken and the results are used to derive bounds for the depletion coefficient. In the case of a weakly interacting gas, Bogoliubov approximation is employed. The ground state is analyzed using heat kernel methods and finite size effects on the ground state energy are proposed. The justification of the c-number substitution on a manifold is given.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A continued fraction resummation form of bath relaxation effect in the spin-boson model

In the spin-boson model, a continued fraction form is proposed to systematically resum high-order quantum kinetic expansion (QKE) rate kernels, accounting for the bath relaxation effect beyond the second-order perturbation. In particular, the analytical expression of the sixth-order QKE rate kernel is derived for resummation. With higher-order correction terms systematically extracted from higher-order rate kernels, the resummed quantum kinetic expansion approach in the continued fraction form extends the Pade approximation and can fully recover the exact quantum dynamics as the expansion order increases.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Optical properties of alkali halide crystals from all-electron hybrid TD-DFT calculations

We present a study of the electronic and optical properties of a series of alkali halide crystals AX, with A = Li, Na, K, Rb and X = F, Cl, Br based on a recent implementation of hybrid-exchange time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) (TD-B3LYP) in the all-electron Gaussian basis set code CRYSTAL. We examine, in particular, the impact of basis set size and quality on the prediction of the optical gap and exciton binding energy. The formation of bound excitons by photoexcitation is observed in all the studied systems and this is shown to be correlated to specific features of the Hartree-Fock exchange component of the TD-DFT response kernel. All computed optical gaps and exciton binding energies are however markedly below estimated experimental and, where available, 2-particle Green’s function (GW-Bethe-Salpeter equation, GW-BSE) values. We attribute this reduced exciton binding to the incorrect asymptotics of the B3LYP exchange correlation ground state functional and of the TD-B3LYP response kernel, which lead to a large underestimation of the Coulomb interaction between the excited electron and hole wavefunctions. Considering LiF as an example, we correlate the asymptotic behaviour of the TD-B3LYP kernel to the fraction of Fock exchange admixed in the ground state functional c{sub HF} and show that there exists one value of c{sub HF} (∼0.32) that reproduces at least semi-quantitatively the optical gap of this material.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Exact calculation of the time convolutionless master equation generator: Application to the nonequilibrium resonant level model

The generalized quantum master equation provides a powerful tool to describe the dynamics in quantum impurity models driven away from equilibrium. Two complementary approaches, one based on Nakajima–Zwanzig–Mori time-convolution (TC) and the other on the Tokuyama–Mori time-convolutionless (TCL) formulations provide a starting point to describe the time-evolution of the reduced density matrix. A key in both approaches is to obtain the so called “memory kernel” or “generator,” going beyond second or fourth order perturbation techniques. While numerically converged techniques are available for the TC memory kernel, the canonical approach to obtain the TCL generator is based on inverting a super-operator in the full Hilbert space, which is difficult to perform and thus, nearly all applications of the TCL approach rely on a perturbative scheme of some sort. Here, the TCL generator is expressed using a reduced system propagator which can be obtained from system observables alone and requires the calculation of super-operators and their inverse in the reduced Hilbert space rather than the full one. This makes the formulation amenable to quantum impurity solvers or to diagrammatic techniques, such as the nonequilibrium Green’s function. We implement the TCL approach for the resonant level model driven away from equilibrium and compare the time scales for the decay of the generator with that of the memory kernel in the TC approach. Furthermore, the effects of temperature, source-drain bias, and gate potential on the TCL/TC generators are discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗